Statements by Uber Eats strikers in London

An important front has been opened in the struggle against precaritisation as workers – ‘contractors’ – at two restaurant delivery companies have self-organised and launched wildcat strikes (wildcat by definition: as the workers are not legally employed, there is no legal process for calling strikes). Below two statements from the Uber-eats workers, which can be found on the United Voices of the World Union fb page. Anybody in London or England try to support these guys any way you can.

The first a by-now-out-of-date call to strike and for support, listing their main grievances; the second, demands for reinstatement of the first victim of the anti-union purges.

– Couriers strike on Friday to demand London Living Wage of £9.40 per hour plus costs.
– Workers say they cannot live off ‘poverty wages’, and call for an end to considerable disparities in pay for peak and off-peak pay.
– Rates have been cut from £20 per hour in June to £3.30 per delivery or less on a commission-only basis during off-peak hours.
– Drivers will rally on Friday at 14:30 at Black Swan Yard SE1, in South London.

Couriers at the UberEATS food delivery firm have declared an all-day wildcat strike on Friday unless the company reverses pay cuts and implements payment rates equivalent to a living wage of £9.40 per hour, plus costs. UberEATS has drastically reduced couriers’ rates since opening in London in June. The company, which offers no guaranteed minimum income, pays £3.30 per delivery or less during off-peak hours and approximately £6.30 to £7.30 per delivery during peak hours, minus a 25 per cent transaction fee and costs.

Couriers say this pay structure causes vast pay discrepancies between peak and off-peak hours for the same work, and means different drivers are paid unequally for the same hours. Workers who joined UberEATS on the offer of £20 per hour have been dismayed by this rapid drop to insecure piece rates and are demanding a guaranteed pay equal to the London Living Wage, the minimum required to survive above the poverty line in the capital.

Couriers and supporters will assemble for a strike rally at 14:30 on Friday in Black Swan Yard at Bermondsey Street SE1, in South London.”

The first response of the management was to sack (‘de-acticvate’) the first leader they could see emerging. Naturally his re-instatement was added to the list of demands.

“Listen to the inspiring Imran Siddiqui explain how he has been “deactivated” (aka sacked) by Uber Eats in retaliation to his elected role as lead organiser and spokesman of the Uber Eats drivers who are currently on stirke and are asking to be paid a living wage.

Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association are human rights, however Uber would obviously rather violate their drivers’ human rights rather than pay them a living wage.

Uber might think that by taking out the leader the rest of the drivers will give up and get back to work, but Imran’s sacking has only hardened their resolve and the drivers are now more united than ever and gearing up for what is looking likely to be a protracted battle, and one that will only end in victory for the drivers!